Voorheesville falls to Gananda in state semis

The Voorheesville girls' basketball team fell behind quickly, but never gave up in dropping a 66-52 decision to Gananda (Section II) of Franklin Academy in the state Class C semifinal game at Hudson Valley Community College Saturday.

The Blackbirds (16-8), with just two seniors, had little to hang their heads over after giving an all-out effort in attempts to make a comeback to the top-seeded undefeated Panthers, who started four seniors.

They (Gananda) came out firing and we were in deep trouble from the beginning, Voorheesville coach Bob Baron said. "To get in that big of a hole and try to come back was too much. The only thing I asked the girls to do at halftime was to continue to compete. It would have been easy for them to run and hide, but they didn't. They didn't quit and I was very proud of them."

Sarah Madden made Voorheesville's first basket of the game to tie the score at two. That would be the last tie of the game. Utilizing a relentless 1-2-2 press, the Panthers finished the opening quarter on a 22-4 run. Gananda breezed to a 37-17 halftime lead, while Voorheesville turned the ball over 17 times.

Senior Shannon McGinniss, celebrating her 18th birthday, led the Panters to the lead at the intermission, with 22 of her game-high 33 points and 11 of her team-high 18 rebounds.

"We let them (Granada) get some easy baskets," Madden said. "We had a lot of turnovers and gave them quality shots every possession.We just weren't playing our game."

Responding to Baron's request, the Blackbirds fought tenaciously the final two periods.

A field-goal and four free-throws by Anna Feller trimmed Gananda's lead 51-33 with 13.7 left in the third quarter.

"I was definitely looking to pick the team up," Feller said. "At that point every shot and every free-throw counted, but we couldn't keep up the pace and catch them."